Item PY9

Dimensions: 48 x 24 cm.  This vintage print has some slight wear around the edges of the border due to age; this does not affect the actual image and will not be visible once the print is properly matted and framed.

The caption on the bottom of the print reads as follows:

Bas-relief, Apadana Palace, Persepolis, Fars

Detail from the frieze of tributaries that adorns the base of the Apadana Palace. A Lydian leads two horses by the bridle as part of an unfolding stream of representatives from all the subject nations. As the bearers of tribute wound their way up and around before finally entering the presence of the king, this work must have had a film-like effect, awe-inspiring both because of its precise execution and because it mirrored the very activities that took place before it. Buried for 2,000 years, these bas-reliefs come down to us in almost perfect condition and are perhaps Persepolis' greatest treasure. For historians of culture, they contain a mine of information on the nature and the reach of the Achaemenian Empire; for historians of art, they speak volumes on the extent of synthesis and innovation in this seminal period for the representational arts.